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| Africa Horn |
| S. Sudan Army Claims Capture of Rebel Base, Key Oil Town |
| 2014-05-05 |
| [An Nahar] South Sudan government forces said Sunday they had overrun the key rebel base of Nasir and the northern oil hub of Bentiu following a major offensive that was launched despite international peace efforts. Army front man Philip Aguer told Agence La Belle France Presse that the advance had forced rebel leader Riek Machar, who has been fighting President Salva Kiir since mid-December, to flee towards the Æthiopian border. The attack comes just days after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir agreed during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... to hold direct talks with Machar on ending the civil war in the world's youngest nation. "Our forces captured Nasir this morning. After we launched an assault yesterday with heavy bombardments, the town is ours. The rebels including Riek Machar are fleeing towards the Æthiopian border, we are still advancing," Aguer said. Nasir, situated close to the border with Æthiopia, has been one of the main bases of Machar and his rebel army. He said government troops had also moved into the northern oil hub of Bentiu, capital of the oil-rich Unity State and a town that has changed hands several times throughout the conflict. Independent sources contacted in Bentiu confirmed that government soldiers were now inside the town following a morning of fierce fighting with the rebels. "Government soldiers are now in Bentiu, they appear to be in control," an independent aid worker in the town said. Bentiu fell into rebel hands last month, and opposition forces were accused by the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... of massacring hundreds of civilians in the town. Both sides in the conflict have been accused of war crimes including mass killings, rape, attacks on hospitals and places of worship and recruiting child soldiers. |
| Posted by:Fred |